Things that go bump in the water

Funny how a name defines how seriously we take a matter. We look towards the Loch Ness Monster and the like. There are many other so called 'monsters' that reportedly inhabit lakes across the world. Some well known examples are The Patagonian lake monster in Argentina, Champ in lake Champlain in New York, The lake Storsjon Monster in Sweden and Ogopogo in lake Okanagan in Canada. In all of these examples, sightings began well before the celebrity monster- The Loch Ness monster or Nessie.

Now, many people dismiss the possibility of monsters living on the planet as fantasy. The argument for is not helped by the use of the word, 'monster' in the first place. We have been conditioned to use the word in a negative, frightening way and people distance themselves from things with this association and this is why, many scientists are more prone to disprove the existence of the monsters, than look at it scientifically. This is aggrevated my the human being's need for fame or tomfoolery by creating hoax sightings, photographs and film. Many times, human beings would rather dismiss the entire phenomenon, just because a part of it is fake. Lastly, there is the list of nutters who love attaching themselves to anything unexplained. These are also the types, that taint the chance of anybody looking at the topic without negative preconcieved views.

However, if we look at this in a logical manner, it makes sense that there may, in fact be creatures living in lakes and the oceans, that have yet to be discovered.

Lets us lose the word 'monster' and refer to them rather as unknown lake creatures. There is little doubt that we have yet to discover many plants, fish and animals living on the planet. Recently in Vietnam's 'Green Corridor', one snake species (White Tipped Keelback), 2 new butterfly species and 8 Orchid species were discovered. (Since 1996, 8 new types of Butterfly have been discovered), during 2006, a Giant Elephant Schrew was found in Tanzania during 2009, a Frogfish in Eastern Indonesia in 2008, in New Guinea, about 40 new plant and animal finds, to name a few recent discoveries. There are many, many more.

Another remarkable find, was the Berlepsh's Six Wired Bird of Paradise, thought to have been extinct.

Over and above this, we have some strange creatures living in our oceans, like the Blobfish, Fangtooth, Firefly Squid, Oarfish and Chimaeras to name just a few. Again, I am sure there are many yet to be discoverd. There is large belief in the giant squid, but this has yet to be established.

Sharks, birds and crocodiles, are a few examples of fauna, that have survived, pretty much unchanged for millions of years, apart from a few little tweaks here and there, to make them better adapted to hunting or surviving in their environment. The Coelacanth, a large fish that was thought to be extinct at the end of the Cetaceous period, is swimming in the oceans of South Africa's nothern coast, off Madagascar and in the oceans off Mozambique and Tanzania.

All of the above is pretty amazing. So, how much of a stretch of the imagination would it be, to accept that other unknown creatures may live in lochs and lakes worldwide. An aquatic animal called the Styxosaurus (pictured on top of the article), which lived millions of years ago, strongly resembles descriptions and photos of most of the unknown lake creatures.

It is plausable that a few of these creatures survived, reproduced over the centuries, adapted to their environments, and are living up till now. They may have made some evolutionary changes along the road, but the point is, there could still be animals from that lineage, living today. We, as humans are quick to dismiss things we don't understand or want to believe. If we allowed our minds to be open to new ideas, to different possiblities, then we may be able to see the world in a different light. We may be open to new discoveries.

Having said that, the sad truth is, if we ever did find these unknown lake creatures, we will, in true human fashion, catch them and cut them up. All for science!